A man born with almost no fingerprint explains why Aadhaar is terrifying and problematic
On a recent trip to Pune, a friend I was staying with had not yet received his Aadhaar card. So when he set out to get a new mobile phone connection, he asked if he could have one in my name, with my Aadhaar number. However, at the store we visited to buy the SIM card, when I had to use the fingerprint scanner, it failed to read my left thumb impression, the only identifier (my finger impressions could not be read by the device when applying for the card).
My explanation to the store executive that I could not provide another fingerprint was of no use. So we returned without a phone connection.
Almost every day, there are news reports confirming that the Supreme Court is still deliberating on the matter of every citizen having to link their Aadhaar numbers with their cell phone numbers and bank accounts. Any linkage has been postponed and yet countless Indians are continually harassed by the two service providers to do exactly that.
The reason I do not have nine fingerprints is that I was born premature, and hence these very fingerprints did not have the time to develop fully. I cannot very well travel back in time, re-enter my mother's womb and come back to the present. This is how I realised that I will never be able to avail of any Aadhaar-related service when the biometric scanners themselves are faulty. So no new bank account and no phone number for me, among other basic services.
God forbid if we ever have to compulsorily use the damn Aadhaar card and biometric scanner for accessing the internet, ordering food, availing hospital services, getting birth or death certificates, buying cars, paying for petrol, renting flats, going to the cinemas, getting a job, or even going to the toilet.
The way the current government seems hell-bent on attaching the Aadhaar card to every single basic facility and service in India. I can imagine the day when even hailing an Uber will require biometrics.
What is scary are the repeated messages to link my Aadhaar number to a defunct ICICI bank account, despite having received notice from the same bank that the account has been closed due to inactivity for more than a year. What is even scarier are the repeated messages from Vodafone to link my mobile number to my Aadhaar despite the frequent news reports that Supreme Court has announced that mandatory linking of the UID stands extended indefinitely till the final judgment.
Surely, these companies are disobeying law and can be sued for harassment and "mental torture".
I wonder why banks and mobile operators have not been penalised in a class action law suit till now. Is this because as a people we have become so tolerant, submissive and naïve that we are unable to stand for our rights as citizens in a "democratic" country?
Or, is the real reason that we are not a truly democratic country? Rather a pseudo-democracy – a feudal aristocracy that still runs the show?
The zamindars have all but disappeared but the mindset still exists. Take Reliance Jio chairman Mukesh Ambani's snide response to Airtel CEO Sunil Mittal’s objection to the Jio-Airtel price war: “We are all big boys.”
The other troubling aspect of the entire Aadhaar and system is that I keep receiving One Time Passwords via SMS for numbers that are not even mine! Is this system really that flawed? I have had this number for some five years before applying for Aadhaar. And I am sure I am not the only one who is subject to this banal, apathetic treatment by the state. What is wrong with the backend system? Surely, with so much IT talent in the country, such harassment is just not warranted or required.
As with election card errors — for instance, my date of birth was mixed up with my mother’s — slip-ups will continue. What is equally worrying is that no action has been taken with the many data breaches reported. Do we think the police state envisioned by the current government and its business "partners" will simply go away?
If the Aadhaar system has been designed on the lines of US’ social security system, it is a colossal failure generating massive insecurity. I am not a victim of data fraud yet, but the day isn't far.
The whole Aadhaar ecosystem needs to be scrapped and pronto.